Ange and I had the opportunity to go on a Mini Copper Rally August 7th.  It was a blast.  It was called Mini Takes The States and was the kick off for the cross the states rally. I love this old mini, it had original seats. We started at the dealership in NOHO (North Hollywood) Universal Mini and Rallied out to Santa Anita Park (a race track) where they had the minicross set up, booths & a lot of cool mini’s on display.

This car is HOT, and strictly for racing!

This is a sweet little convertible, mmmmm I could see myself driving this down PCH .

After the Rally we went to the Launch Party at the Los Angeles Science Museum.  They had a guest D.J. the singer Macy Gray, got this shot with my iphone.  It was a really nice party. The food was great and the music was the bomb

This is a shot I took from my iphone of the rose garden at the museum.

Ange and I were invited to shoot the Foothill Relay For  Life.  It was both a  honor and a pleasure to shoot.  I was touched by the courage of the survivors and proud of all of the volunteers who spent their time raising money for the American Cancer Society.  It was refreshing to see people coming together to help one another.  It was a nice day, and this year it wasn’t 104!  My daughter Rebekah helped us out this year, she even got in on the act and took some pretty awesome shots!  Ange bought some Longaberger for herself … you know for the cause after all!!!! It was a long, tiring, fun and rewarding day. Thank you Ange and Rebekah we made an AWESOME team!

They had a cooling station set up for the walkers with misters, the little guys really enjoyed them

There was a lot of comradery among these ladies. You could tell that they shared a common bond and shared their strength and courage with one another, along with probably the latest gossip

The was a lot of fun to be had, the guys were having fun raising awareness for breast cancer

There were folks there that would give you a massage.

Even the little guys got into the walk.  This little guy has quite a few beads on his string. Each bead represents a lap.

There were special beads for the survivors.

Luminaries are put around the tract and lit in the evening in honor of those who have had or are are fighting the fight against cancer.  The local Girl Scout troop decorated and put out the bags to earn a badge and help the Relay For Life.

I was really impressed with these guys, they had it together!  Their sound was very good!

Part of the Luminary service is to walk the track with a candle in silence in honor of all that have gone before them.

THE END!

We were blessed to have the opportunity to a family shoot at Descanso Gardens. It was a cool cloudy day in February, just right to have fun and run around for their little guy! He was so cute!

Jayden loved to hide from the camera. So we had a great game of hide and seek with the lens

Starting January I decided to take the 365 Challenge, which is to take a photo each day and post it on Flickr or your website.  This didn’t seem like much of a challenge at first, buuuttt…. by day 12 or 13 it started to strain the old creative juices here and I have had to stretch myself and continue to work on new ideas.  Often I have to take the shots with my iphone because of time restraints due to working at Hillview and don’t have time to get out with my 5D before the sun goes down.  Here are a few that I have done lately.

This year we were blessed to celebrate Christmas with all of our children, Racheal’s husband Ben and our good friend Ange.  It was a very laid back and relaxed time. We spent time playing games, and having a fun time as a family.  I was still recovering from surgery so we didn’t do a lot of running around. Unfortunately I got sick the week before Christmas, but all things said & done it was a wonderful season.  I hope yours was blessed too!

Caleb was transformed into Link from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princes. His dad made the Ordon Sheild. Caleb looks like a fierce warrior

Rebekah used her make-up skills by helping transform Joshua into Two Face for the Halloween Party that he went to with Caleb.

Here are the awesome results!  Joshua tied for most original for his costume at the party.  They had a blast and the rest of us stayed at home and waited around for the non-existent trick or treators- so we had plenty of treats for  ourselves

Last days of summer catching some rays at Will Roggers State Beach

Ahhhh the last day of summer! So it isn’t endless is it?  I walked out of the front door this morning at 5:10 am and could smell the faint smell of smoke wafting on the breezing from some distant hills still burning from the Station Fire.  Today I sent my sons off with Daniel to buy Slurpees to celebrate the end of summer. And we look forward to fall. We look forward to cooler days and hopefully some rain.  We look forward to family and friends gathering together to enjoy the holidays together. We look forward to what life has next for us, the next chapter.  Ange and I are moving forward with our photography business.  Daniel has been working diligently with the Church and his home business. Rachael and Ben are moving into the parsonage.  The next chapter has a lot of changes, good changes and we keep moving forward step by step in faith.

It is great to see the people of La Canada and La Crescenta showing their appreciation to the men and women who saved our community!  It was the brave, hard working firefighters and the policemen that backed them up and kept the looters from robbing the homes that had to evacuated as well as the paramedics and medical personal that treated all those who suffered from smoke and fire related injuries.

This was the view of the fire  from the end of my street on Orange Ave and Briggs in La Crescenta on Monday 8/28

When the fire came down to the bottom of the mountain it literally looked like it was going to come down the street.  It was a bit un-nerving to say the least but I had to stay cool to let my kids know that everything was going to be all right.

This Sikorski helicopter is a double bladed one which really looked cool!

Sighting one of these Sikorski helicopters is a way of life now. I shot this one on the way home from work as Ange drove home on the 21o. Which says a lot for image stabilization in her mini

This is another image taken on the way home on 9/1. This is a back fire set by the fire department to prevent the homes below from being burnt down, it clears the brush ahead of time.

We spent part of the afternoon Saturday watching the helicopters dropping water on the hot spots along the fire where we live.   This picture was taken from my friend Angela’s apartment window.  It is absolutely amazing how much water they can drop and how accurate they are in their drops. I have a series of pictures that I want to sew together in photoshop to show the water drop, I hope to have up soon!

This was taken from the roof of my home this is the fire cresting the hills behind our home.

Tuesday afternoon August 25th I was at home from work sick when I got a text from Ange telling me that there was a fire near by in the mountains near my home.  This is not something you want to hear in August when it is 106F and the brush is as dry as parchment paper.  The only thing that would make it worse would be if there were Santa Ana winds- then you have disaster! This week, so far, we have been blessed. The picture above is the evening of the 27th.  The fire had originated five miles north of La Canada above the Forest Rangers fire station- and so it got its name the “Station Fire”.  By the night of the 27th it had crested the Angeles Crest Mountains and began to work its way down the mountain side like a slow moving lava flow. The small dots of light along the mountain are homes.  As you can see they are very close to the path of harm.

This is a close up of the flames. Our chaparral has a high oil content in it because plants like Manzanita shrubs and the pine trees.   As of this blog entry there have been no loss of homes or injuries.  We can all thank the Lord and all the hard working fire fighters for that.  If you are reading this blog entry and this fire is still in progress, say a prayer for the fire fighters on the lines, and for those in harms way.  Thank you.